Planting inner peace Curtains were drawn and the lights were off. Seated
at my desk, I listened as Fatima, a Russian from Ossetia, made a power point
presentation to my class about the religious tensions in the region she calls
home. Part travelogue and part cultural documentary, her images conveyed a country
and its countryside that resembled rural America. That’s why my students and I
were completely unprepared for the slide that began her last ten minutes.
There, on our six foot by four
foot screen, were pictures of the dead and dying teachers and students from
Beslan. On their first day of school,
traditionally a time for parents and teachers and children to celebrate the new
school year, Muslim murderers from Chechnya held hundreds captive. Eventually
they killed almost 200 children and teachers. [please see: Beslan school massacre remembered six years on — RT
Three
days of commemorations to mark six years since the Beslan school siege
got underway on Wednesday in Russia's Republic of North Ossetia. More
than 300 died in ...
rt.com/news/beslan-school-masacre-remembered]
Following the last slide in
that traumatic set, a tearful Fatima, who was friends with a number of the
victims, told us she stills asks why.
All of us wanted the same
answer. I still do. In fact, I did today when I spoke to my partner. From her
home, thirty-five miles from the site of the Sandy Hook massacre, she described
today as profoundly “solemn” and cold in a way she’d never felt. People there
were different, “considerate” in their interactions. She noted that they were
never like that before at Christmas time.
“Every time I hear another
story on TV,” she texted me, “tears come back.” We talked after that; she
wanted to drive to Newtown but the President was on his way. We lost our
connection then.
I was driving back from
Hillsborough, NC. Dreary as the day was, I felt it darken. Our country had
failed to stop such tragedies. As I thought of preventive measures, I clicked
on a Stones CD and lost my composure when I heard “Fool to Cry.” After the
first few lines, I was in tears as I imagined a father explaining to his child
on his knee that this massacre had happened. [the
rolling stones - fool to cry original - YouTube
Sign in to
add channels to your guide and for great recommendations! Sign In ›
This video contains content from Eagle Rock and EMI Music Publishing, one ...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6yHoWgHRnw]
I didn’t hear the rest as I
sensed an enormous emptiness, a compelling grief I couldn’t ignore. Pictures of
the slaughtered children came to mind; I thought of my own, lately under attack
in Israel.
At least I knew what the
Israelis did. Was theirs the right answer? Many would argue against their
preparedness.
I can’t. When I attended
services at my host’s synagogue while visiting Israel’s West bank, I noticed
that there was always someone with their sub machine gun praying near me. It
rested on the floor like an unopened briefcase. Although it made me aware that trouble
was a possibility, I also felt more secure in knowing that, if it came, all of
us would have a fighting chance.
That wasn’t the case at the
Sandy Hook school. I wondered why there weren’t double doors with metal
detectors and bulletproof windows. Why weren’t there locks that worked
automatically when an alarm registered? Why was there more than one entrance?
And why was it unsecured?
I felt like screaming. Our
children deserve to be protected regardless of laws allowing or disallowing
firearms, specifically automatic weapons. That debate may be too lengthy to
prevent another massacre.
It is past time to focus on
concrete measures, on real prevention and necessary security. Some have
lamented that much less harm would have come had only one administrator had a
weapon. [http://www.wnd.com/2012/12/what-if-1-of-the-teachers-had-a-gun/#C4dmrr3Fekyzl4Re.99]But that idea may be bandied about too. And for too
long.
That’s too bad. It works, out
of necessity, in Israeli schools.
Now is the time for our leaders
to act as leaders must; it is the time for our counselors to enable us to mourn
and grieve and acknowledge our deeply wounded psyches and, especially, those of
our children.
As for the rest of us who are
numb and tearful, but desirous of expressing our sympathy, please consider joining
me in creating a lasting and meaningful marker of Newtown’s terrible loss.
Together, we can create a memorial forest, in memory of the Sandy Hook School,
in Israel.
What I hope we can do will be
to plant ten trees for every teacher and student we lost on Friday. Please
consider committing to that.
Our trees for them will grow
and their growth will, hopefully, be a healing force, a guide for and a
reminder of our thoughts and our prayers.
By doing that, our little ones
and their teachers will never be forgotten.
B.Koplen 12/16/12
No comments:
Post a Comment